BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/02/2008

Kazulin Accuses Authorities Of Contributing To Wife's Death

Alyaksandr Kazulin said on February 26 in an interview with RFE/RL's Belarus Service that some Belarusian officials contributed to the death of his wife. Kazulin said that the first stage of this contribution was his illegal arrest and prison sentence in 2006. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka "knew well that she was already sick at that time," Kazulin said. Once he was sent to jail on charges related to the antigovernment rallies that followed the election, Iryna "lost the strength she needed to fight her illness." Kazulin also said that the final blow was the deal, about which Lukashenka told reporters a week ago in Vitsebsk. Lukashenka said then that Kazulin was offered the opportunity to accompany his wife on a trip for treatment in Germany, but they refused. Kazulin's daughter said later that the the authorities' main intention was to expel Kazulin from Belarus. Also, Kazulin's wife, who was no longer able to talk, wrote in a statement that the conditions of the proposal were unacceptable. "If I had asked them to give me a million dollars, they would have, if it had meant getting me out of Belarus," Kazulin told RFE/RL. AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/02/3-cee/cee-260208.asp

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